In The Washington Post’s rundown of the nations top 15 gubernatorial races they call the competitive Hawaii contest a “surprise.” Here’s some excerpts:

In Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) remains unpopular and is dealing with a primary challenger. If he wins the Democratic nomination, his reward will be a tough general election campaign in which he will have to contend with not only former lieutenant governor Duke Aiona (R), but former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann, who is running as an independent. Hannemann was Abercrombie’s Democratic opponent in 2010, so he has the ability to pull votes away from the governor.

Abercrombie is not a sure bet to make the general election. He faces state Sen. David Ige (D). Abercrombie has a lot more money than Ige, but he’s also battling lingering unpopularity.